We are proud to announce a rare auction offering of a Jeweled Sea Brooch by Marguerite Stix, circa 1970. It has an orange lion’s paw scallop shell mounted on an 18 karat gold frame, and applied with 4 diamonds weighing .25 carats, 2 pear-shaped jades and a 2.50 carat pale blue sapphire; 23.2 dwts, signed STIX, Lot 507, with an estimate of $2,000-$4,000, in our May 17-18th Fine Sale.
The following is an excerpt from Richard McLanathan’s book, The Art of Marguerite Stix:
“To Marguerite Stix art and life were inseparable. As a gifted child, a prize-winning student, a concentration camp prisoner, a penniless refugee, a designer of accessories for the haute couture, a factory worker, a recognized sculptor and painter, a creator of widely sought-after jewelry and of fantastic ephemera, she never departed from her deeply felt celebration of life and its meaning. Human sensibility, the wonders of nature, exuberance or despair, humor or play, vulnerability or bravado, infancy or old age, the simple joys of home or the elegance of the privileged world – all called into play her extraordinary talents.
“The effervescent climate of Vienna between the two world wars fostered her natural gifts and provided both stimulus and exacting craftsmanship in her art education. The coming of World War II wiped out her early works and personal connections; names, records, and achievements vanished in the backwash. Only in 1941 could she start to rebuild her artistic personality, this time in the United States, where she had previously been unknown. Her climb up from the depths and the many exquisite works of art she completed before her death in 1975 bear witness to the strength of her spirit in adversity and the potency of her cherished traditions.
“Although Stix is best known for her work with seashells, the foremost element in her work, whether pictorial or sculptural, is the poignancy of the vulnerable creature, animal or human. The tremulous newborn horses, the troubled women, the haggard and touching portraits of Lincoln, the ebullient children and fleeting groups of the young – these evoke in the observer the tenderness and compassion implied by the artist’s own involvement. Her technique, though formidable, and her uses of style and medium; however experimental, never override the flash of mood or sensation. Even in the landscapes, still lives and interiors, this immediacy is present. Her work will speak to anyone who values life and beauty.”
Marguerite Stix’s jewelry is in the following public collections: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design, Minnesota Museum of Art, The Headley Museum, Kentucky and lastly, Reading Public Museum of Art, Pennsylvania.
Lot 507: JEWELLED SEA SHELL BROOCH, BY MARGUERITE STIX
Estimate: $2,000 – $4,000
